Life at McKinley
by Hawky21
Summary: There was always so much more happening at McKinley High...SYOC! SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED!
1. Enrollment

**Life at McKinley**

New story time guys!

Yes, this is a **SYOC **(Submit Your Own Character) story which means it will feature multiple OC's. In this story I want to expand on everything else non Glee club related that goes on at McKinley and in Lima. Of course, the Glee club and the canon characters that are shown in the show, will still be featured, but I'm hoping to expand on what the show has already given us. This means that not every character has to be in the Glee club.

This story will start in Season One of the show. So the storylines used at the beginning of Glee will be used to base the story from. Word of warning though, I will be changing things, and sooner rather than later the direction I take the story and the characters (OC's and canon) will be completely different from the show. This is because it wouldn't be realistic to introduce several new characters into a show and have the exact same thing happen. Plus, I don't know how many of you would want to read I rehash of what you've all already seen on television.

There are no restrictions on character submissions, which means you can submit as many as you like. This does not automatically mean everybody will be accepted so please be as creative and imaginative as possible with your characters.

In regards to pairings, I will wait until characters are submitted before I decide what to do with them. However, I will say now, just because characters start out together in this story doesn't mean that they will end it together.

So please, submit as many characters as you like by completing **that is now located on my profile **and sending it to me in a **private message. **

Thanks, and good luck.


	2. Accepted Characters

**Accepted Characters**

Thank you to everybody that submitted characters for use. I have sent private messages to everyone whose characters I will not be using to explain why. Submissions are now closed, and the characters that I will be using are below. There are a few other characters that have been submitted that will be used a bit later (as new students) but I have sent pm's to those authors for now to tell them that and haven't included them on this list.

Characters that have been accepted:

**Guys**

Viktor Silayev – _Boris Yeltin_

Sam Beckham – _KlaineLuneville_

Derek "Dodger" Casey – _me_

Dixon Carter – _me_

Eddie Cohen – _OTHGG24_

Vincent Greene - _Munamana_

Jayson Winston – _gleerox_

Ethan Hummel – _watzillas_

Mickey Jones – _You'reHighlightingTooMuch_

Dawson Carson – _CharliePaceWinchester009_

Evan Lincoln – _kadienewberg_

Hanz Matthews – _curiousitygleek_

Grant Collins – _XOXOGossipGirl23_

_Alexander James – __ProudofDarrenKriss_  


**Girls**

Johara Mason – _Aiyana-BeautifulFlower_

Juno James – _XxXYoulovemeanywaysXxX_

Kylie Saunders – _BellaSeesYou_

Charlotte Callahan – _MJGLeek19_

Jessica Winston – _gleerox_

Clover Rogers – _kadienewberg_

Aaliyah Cruz – _BellaRosa17_

Alyssa Cruz – _BellaRosa17_

Amber Reed – _SoulSurferfan116_

Danielle Henderson – _sorryjustme_

Anna Dee – _You'rehighlightingtoomuch_

Again, submissions are now **closed! **This means that I will not be accepting any further characters as I have already started to plan and write the first two chapters. Hopefully, I'll be able to post the first chapter on New Years Day. So, fingers crossed and wish me luck!


	3. The New New Directions

**Before we begin, I'm sorry about this chapter being so late. **

**I have about three versions of this chapter written, and I don't even like this one, but the basic storyline is the one I wanted and I figured that it's already late enough. The good thing about that is that it means I've already got parts of the next chapter written, so hopefully it won't take me as long to update. **

**Not every character appears in this chapter (chances are, there will be characters missing from every chapter) but I will make sure that any characters that don't appear in this one will be in the next one instead.**

**0o0o0o**

**The New Directions!**

**Auditions at 4pm today at the Auditorium.**

Juno James stared up at the sign-up sheet pinned up against the notice board, and the tip of her pen hovered above the sheet of lined paper. Around her the halls of McKinley High was as busy as ever – not that she was surprised. Nobody ever bunked the first day of school. Dozens of students bustled around her, each and everyone one of them wrapped up in their own lives, not one noticing the conflict that was taking place inside the brunette's head.

**Juno**

_The worst thing you could be in High School? A nobody. Controversial opinion, I know, especially coming from someone who's had more than my fair share of experience with bullies. But being the person that went through some of the worst torment that someone's mind could come up with, and could still get up the next morning and go back to school to confront them seemed better than a life of tip toeing around those with power and blending in._

She took a deep breath and took a leap of faith. Pressing the pen against the sheet, she left her name scrawled on the line beneath Rachel Berry. She took a moment to frown at the star beside the girl's name, before shrugging it off and took off down the corridor with a spring in her step and a bright smile on her face.

_**Juno**_

_No matter who you are, being at a school for almost six months and practically no-one knowing who you are was a blow to the ego. Well, I was done. It was time to be somebody, even if that person had to be that geeky girl in Glee Club._

**0o0o0o**

Juno sat in the second row of the auditorium and struggled to keep herself from fidgeting. Nervous wasn't exactly an emotion she was familiar with. Sure, she had suffered the same (or a little more) of the crippling teenage awkwardness that everyone got from one time or another, but this was different.

Maybe she wasn't expecting any real competition. Maybe she was expecting to just walk the audition. Maybe she didn't think anybody else in the school would take Glee seriously. Whatever it was, she was genuinely surprised to see the form of Rachel Berry belt out the lyrics to _On My Own _from Les Miserables, a musical Juno only vaguely remembered watching several years ago. It made her feel uneasy, and if she was about to sing in front of several people she had never meet before, uneasy wasn't the emotion she wanted to be feeling.

"You're confident in your own abilities and then you hear something like that." Juno jumped, having not heard anyone behind her, and spun around in her seat to see a dark haired boy with broad shoulder sitting in the chair directly behind her. He gave her a knowing smile, "Trust me, I know how you feel. I auditioned ten minutes ago and walked away thinking I killed it. Now _she _has me second guessing myself."

Juno looked back toward the stage to see Rachel finishing her song and swallowed. "Yeah..." she said slowly, "Something like that."

Considering there was only a few people scattered around the auditorium, the applause Rachel relieved was louder than Juno had been expecting. She swallowed, and turned back to face the dark haired boy as he continued to speak, "Here's the trick. Concentrate on yourself. What you just heard is a result of her having singing lessons before she could walk. Trust me, I know. I was in Glee with her last year. Forget about everything and everyone else and you'll be fine." She smiled brightly as he offered her his hand, "I'm Viktor, by the way."

"I'm..."

"Juno! Juno James!" The boisterous voice of the new leader of Glee club, William Schuester called out from the front of the auditorium.

She just took a deep breath before standing up. "That's me."

"Good luck." Viktor called out as she walked through the row of chairs she had been sitting on until reaching the narrow corridor of floor space in the middle off the room. She smiled and nodded at Mr. Schuester as she past him and climbed the few steps to get to the stage.

"You ready?" Mr. Schuester asked. Juno hesitated in responding for a second and glanced around the rest of the auditorium. She caught Viktor's eyes as he gave her a brief thumbs up. She smiled, turned back to Mr. Schuester, and nodded. "Okay then. Hit it."

**0o0o0o**

**Life at McKinley**

**1**

_**The New New Directions**_

Kylie Saunders sat in the empty parking lot of McKinley High, staring up at the school with wide, expectant eyes. Despite her relatively small stature, she had managed to hop onto a one of the metal railings, and dangled her feet in the air. She wasn't sure if she should've been surprised that the night was cold and the wind was cutting. This was Ohio; it wasn't exactly the sunshine state. She braced the chill in the air and remained outside, wrapping her small jacket around her skinny frame tightly and throwing the cotton hood over her head.

She knew that in less than ten hours this parking lot would be filled with less than eager students returning for the second day to what looked like a rundown school for a new term. She had already feigned sickness to avoid the first day back. This was an entirely new experience for her. She had never been the new kid before. She had never had to walk into a large building knowing that no-one knew your name. Uncontrollable shyness always did hinder any fledging attempts she made to make friends. Maybe that was blessing in disguise. Kylie had had her issues in her previous school like most teenagers did – maybe a little more severe than _most _teenagers - and maybe, despite the clutter of nerves that was building in her stomach, deep down she knew that a new beginning might be just what she needed.

"You know most people want to stay away from school for as long as possible at the end of summer. You go at of your way to come here the night before term starts. It's a new one, I'll give you that. A bit unorthodox, but I'll give you points for originality."

A small smile graced Kylie's face and she suddenly felt grateful that she wouldn't be going through this alone. Charlotte Callahan smiled back at her as she hoped up onto the railings beside her. The stick thin blonde had been a godsend since she had moved here. Luck had been on Kylie's side when she had discovered Charlotte as her neighbour. The two girls had become quick friends and Charlotte had become her guide to all things in Lima.

"I just wanted to take a look at the place before tomorrow," Kylie said after a moment. "I know it's stupid but I just thought it would make me feel more prepared."

Charlotte didn't say anything for a moment. Instead she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and eyed her carefully, "You're really worried about this."

It was more of a statement than a question, and both girls knew it. Kylie shrugged, "Wouldn't you be."

"I'm sure all High Schools are pretty much the same. McKinley can't be too much different to your previous school."

"That's the problem."

Kylie knew that Charlotte wasn't stupid and it wouldn't have taken her long to figure out what was bothering her from that statement. To her surprise, the blonde didn't respond to that and instead joined the girl in looking up at the empty school from where they were both perched. The moment of silence stretched and silvered into something that was almost unbearable, until Charlotte broke it by saying, "Isn't that the best thing about starting a new school? The opportunity to completely reinvent yourself doesn't come often. You can walk through those doors tomorrow and be whoever you want to be. If you ask me, you should be excited, not worried."

"And where's this new person supposed to come from?"

Charlotte laughed to herself, "This is the part where I give a corny yet inspiring answer and say _"from your heart"._" Kylie allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips at that, and the blonde lifted her arm and wrapped it around the smaller girls shoulder in an one armed hug. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Whatever happens, I got your back."

**0o0o0o**

Derek Carter – or_ Dodger _as he preferred to be called, twisted the blue tap attached to sink and watched cold water splash against the porcelain and disappear down the plug. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at himself in the rectangular mirror attached to the wall in front of him, and smiled. Yeah, he looked good. He heard a metallic click come from somewhere behind him and moments later, his stereo began playing.

"_My mind's telling me no..." _He sang along to his go-to love making song quietly as he pooled the water in his hands and washed his face. "_But my body, my body's telling me yes..."_

He emerged from the bathroom and stood in the doorway of his bedroom moments later, striking a pose that he imagined to be the perfect combination of cute and sexy. In reality, he wasn't sure that was the best description of him in just his boxers, but in his imagination he looked pretty damn good. His face fell when he realised his guest, the beautiful Santana Lopez, looked as if she was far more interested in something on her phone than anything he was doing. Dodger made no effort to keep the frustration out of his voice. "I am making an effort here," He scowled, "You could at least _look_ like your into it."

"It's not my fault that you were taking a ridiculous amount of time in there," She replied hotly, before pausing for a moment as a look of disgust passed across her face, "I have a sensitive nose, so if you've left any mess in there you better turn around and..."

"Oh, please. What do you think I am?"

Santana just shrugged, and went back to doing whatever it was she was doing on her phone. "I know what boys do when they spend a while in the bathroom. What else could you have been doing?"

"It takes time to look like this." She looked up at him, scoffed loudly, and looked back down. "Well, that was rude." Dodger crossed the room quickly and jumped onto the bed beside her. Santana offered surprisingly little protest as he swiped the phone from her small hands and dropped it on the drawers beside her bed.

He got closer to her, and she surprised him by turning her head away. Not one to hesitate, Dodger shrugged it off and within seconds his lips made contact with her neck. "The music's a little much." Santana said, making no attempt to stop him.

Dodger shrugged, and spoke in the brief moment he allowed his lips to leave her neck, "I was trying to make it special."

She just laughed, "You sound like a virgin." This time, he did detach himself from her, and threw himself back against the cushions on the bed. Santana only laughed louder when she saw his reaction. "Please don't tell me you're going to pout?"

"I never pout."

Santana looked at him and rolled her eyes at his folded arms and his pursed lips. After a battle of wills that lasted several seconds, she gave in, rolled over, and climbed on top of him. "Are you gonna pout or are we gonna do what you came over for?" Dodger smiled, and shrugged. The smallest of smiles flittered across Santana's as she leaned down and kissed him. Just like that, any frustration or annoyance that Santana caused him vanished and was replaced by thoughts of her cherry lip gloss. Dodger broke away for the briefest of moments, and looked up at her, before wrapping his arms around her waist and rolling her over so he was on top. In a rush of heat and passion, his lips quickly met hers. The kiss was desperate and hungry. It wasn't about romance, or young love, it was two people expressing physical attraction and living in the moment.

The moment was broken abruptly as Dodger pulled away from the kiss. "...oww...ouch...ouch..."

Still only inches away from his face, Santana up at him as if he was crazy, "What?"

"Cramp."

She raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"

Dodger only nodded before adding, "I'm gonna need to stretch this out." Before Santana could protest he hopped off her and jumped off the bed. Santana could only shake her head at the surreal situation as he proceeded to jog on the spot before doing a series of movements to stretch out his hamstring.

"I can't believe this is actually happening."

"Relax," Dodger said as he continued to stretch, "I'm worth the wait."

"Yeah..." Santana said, trailing off, "You're not as good as you think."

"Why else would you keep coming back?"

She smirked, "The comedy."

Dodger gave her a filthy look before sarcastically laughing at the comment. He had long since learnt that getting insulted was a side effect of spending too much time with Santana. It was something that he had learnt to deal with, plus, he had always been good at giving back as good as he got. "Well, in case you were wondering, you're not as good as you think."

"Please," Santana scoffed, "I have you well trained. When I snap my fingers you come running."

That comment hit far too close to home for Dodger's liking, but he did his best not to let it show. Instead, he glared at her and shook his head. "Just for that, I'm not putting out tonight." He watched with some pride as the shock registered across her pretty features. With his head held high, he turned around and walked out of her bedroom. Seconds later, he returned with a change of heart. "Change of plan, I'm not putting out tomorrow night."

She actually looked like she was glad he was back, but he knew from past experience that with Santana you could never tell for sure. Still, Dodger took her smile as genuine as he climbed back onto the bed and kissed her with gusto.

**0o0o0o**

Juno stood in the car park of McKinley, watching with a wary eye as the students slowly and reluctantly streamed into the building through the large double doors at the front of the school. She took a sip of water from the bottle she was holding, and adjusted the strap of her bag that she had slung over one of her shoulders. She was hesitating, and she knew it. Today was the first day of Glee rehearsals. She had auditioned with _The Dark Side _by _Kelly Clarkson _and earned her a large round of applause and a spot in the aptly named New Directions from Mr. Schuester.

"Hey," Once again, Juno didn't notice Viktor approach her from behind. Seeing her apparent distress, he frowned and came to a stop beside her. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine if you didn't keep sneaking up on me."

Viktor laughed at that and shrugged, "That's just the underappreciated ability I have to slip by unnoticed."

She gave him her best withering look, which failed spectacularly at making any attempt to look the least bit flattening, before giving up and offering him a small smile. Viktor began to walk to the school and Juno adjusted the strap on her bag before breaking catching up to him and falling into step beside him. "So give me a heads up," She said as they joined the large crowd heading into McKinley, "What should I be expecting from Glee?"

Viktor hesitated for a moment before answering, "Extreme personalities, talented voices, less than talented feet, vivid colours, back stabbing, lack of cohesion..." he paused when he saw the downtrodden expression on her face, "I don't think I need to go on. Look, if you don't enjoy it, you don't have to continue going. You'll want to though. Trust me. Glee club is addictive. You'll love it." He gave her one smile before adding, "I've gotta go, but I'll see you there?"

Juno nodded with more confidence than she felt, "Yeah, sure."

As Viktor turned to leave he called out over his shoulder, "Good. I'll save you a seat."

She watched as he disappeared within the crowd before letting out a deep breath in the damp air. Viktor had succeeded in settling her nerves a little, but know she needed to find something to fill half an hour of her time before heading to her first lesson of the day.

0o0o0o

Dodger watched intently as the heavy basketball spun on top of his index.

He grinned from where he stood atop the bleachers as he used his free hands to push the ball a couple of times to keep it spinning. Football seemed to be the pastime of McKinley High, but it was a sport he had never been able to play. Maybe it was something in his blood, or maybe he had never put as much effort into learning how to play the game as he should've done, but him and football never did go hand in hand. Basketball was his game, and even though he was the star of a less than stellar team he still felt like he never could get enough of the game.

Noah Puckerman leaned against the metal railings with his hands stuffed into his pocket as he watched Dodger with a bored expression on his face. Dodger grinned widely when he saw the look on Puck's face. "It's okay," he said, with that mocking grin only growing wider, "You can be jealous. I won't hold it against you." Puck scoffed in response, but said nothing. After a moment, the smile fell off his face as Dodger noticed something was bothering him. He wasn't the smartest person in the world, but he was intuitive. It didn't take him long to realize what was amiss. "I thought you'd be with Alyssa?"

Puck shrugged, "So did I."

The spinning ball dropped dead in Dodger's waiting arms as he tucked it beneath his arm. Before he could say anything, he felt a strong slap on the back and turned to see the grinning face of Eddie Cohen standing behind him. "What's with you guys hiding up here?" Seeing the look on Puck's face, the smile fell and he added, "What's going on?"

"Alyssa dumped him." Dodger supplied, and found himself wincing at the sharp jab Puck gave him in his shoulder. Eddie suppressed a laugh as he hopped up on to the railings and sat beside Puck.

Puck shook his head, "She didn't dump me." Before he rounded on Dodger, "And why the hell would you assume that she dumped me anyway?"

Dodger shrugged, "Well, you're not exactly known to be boyfriend material."

That comment clearly rubbed Puck the wrong way, and he opened his mouth to respond but Eddie beat him to the punch. "You did cheat on her last year." Puck's wrath quickly switched and was now focused on Eddie, who raised his hands above his head in a sign of innocence. "What? You did."

"That was last year!" Puck argued, "She forgave me for that. She got over it. She..." He paused for a moment and shook his head before bending down to scoop his rucksack of the floor and swing it over his right shoulder. "You know what; I'm not doing this right now. I'll talk to you guys later." He gave them both one more fierce look before walking away. Dodger watched him leave, but wasn't overly worried about his anger. Puck would get over it. He always did.

Eddie had also been watching him leave, and turned back to Dodger with a raised eyebrow. "What's got him so ruffled?"

"Not used to handling rejection I guess."

"Where were you last night anyway," Eddie asked, "Everyone was round mine last night. You know, Monday Night Football. You bailed."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Dodger said as he once again began spinning the basketball on his finger, "Santana called."

Eddie just nodded, he had guessed as much anyway. He watched as Dodger one again became absorbed with the rotating basketball on his finger. He took a moment to figure out how to word what to say next, before deciding to just come out with it. Dodger wasn't exactly known for his subtlety. "You sure it's a good idea to keep on seeing her?"

"Course it is," Dodger said without looking up, "Santana's hot."

"Yeah, but Santana's like the female Puck. She doesn't do relationships." He explained, "And it's never a good idea to continue sleeping with someone who doesn't have the same feelings for her that you do."

Once again the ball stopped spinning and dropped dead in Dodger's firm grasp, "Let's not go there." Within a matter of seconds, the smile was back on his face as he leapt forward and physically pulled Eddie of the rails before putting an arm around his shoulders and leading him through the bleachers. "C'mon, we got classes, and its way too early in the year to start ditching."

**0o0o0o**

"_On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone, I walk with him till morning..." _Rachel stood beside the piano, singing the song that she auditioned for Glee club with. Juno felt a sense of déjà vu as she sat in the back row of the choir room and once again found herself listening to the pure talent of Rachel Berry. The room was filled with William Schuester's newly assembled New Directions, all watching on with varying degrees of wonder, shock and envy. Juno was somewhere in between, but once again joined in with everybody else by clapping after Rachel finished her final note.

"That was great Rachel," Mr Schuester said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and directed her back toward her seat amongst everyone else. He waited a moment for the newly formed club to settle down, before clapping his hands together and speaking. "I have an announcement to make. I wanted to welcome The New Directions to McKinley in a big way, so I spoke with Principal Figgins, and got us a spot performing at tomorrow's assembly."

The reaction that he received from the group was probably something that he wasn't expecting. Juno sat back and along with Viktor, watched as the murmurs amongst the group increase. It was the short, brunette girl with an innocent face who was sitting next to the Asian girl Juno recognised as Tina Cohen- Chang that voiced her concerns first. "Are you sure that's a good idea. I mean, this is our _**first **_rehearsal."

Juno scooted closer to Viktor, "Who's that?"

"Danielle Henderson," He answered. "Probably the nicest person you'll ever meet."

"Plus, this school's never been overly accepting of a Glee club."

That addition came from a tallish dark haired boy from the front row. Juno once again leaned toward Viktor and pointed him out, he whispered back his response. "Alex James. To be honest I don't know too much about him. He never says much, but always tends to just be there."

She nodded and paid attention to rest of the room just in time to hear Schuester's enthusiastic response. "Yes, it's a little early. It's a little scary, but it's also exciting. We've got some real powerful voices in this room so what we'll do is limit the choreography so we can really focus on getting that across."

A pale hand shot up in front of Juno's face as a long haired boy waited for Mr. Schuester too look at him before speaking. "Is there a solo?" The man nodded in response. "Who gets it?"

"Mickey Jones," Viktor said before Juno could even ask, "Nice kid." He paused for the briefest of moments, "Maybe a little too nice."

There was only one other person in the room she had been recently acquainted with spoke. Kylie Saunders had been in her Math class early that day, and having only recently gotten over her stigma of being the _new girl, _Juno took pity on her and went out of her way to befriend her. To say she was shy was an understatement, which is why Juno was quite surprised when she spoke. Sure, it was quiet, and nervous, but it was something, "Maybe we could have a vote or something..."

"As the lead vocalist I thought that it would it be only fitting if I..." Rachel was cut off by the sound off Mercedes Jones scoffing loudly.

"Did I miss the meeting where everybody voted you as the lead vocalist?" She asked.

"No decisions have been made in regards to who gets the solo." Mr. Schuester said, "For now I want everyone to break off into groups of three. We're going to run through some vocal exercises to begin."

**0o0o0o**

"I think I'm going to join the Glee club."

Under different circumstances, those words coming out of the mouth of Finn Hudson could've been the most laughable thing Grant Collins had heard in a while. He had watched him play football, and sure, while he was the quarterback on the world's worst football team, his footwork had never been anything to admire. The picture of Finn busting a move on the dance floor made Grant simultaneously want to laugh and cringe. This was different. It was the look on his face that told him that he was serious. A furrowed brow tinged with a hint of worry was an expression he wasn't used to seeing on Finn's face. For that reason alone, he dropped the sandwich he was eating back onto his plate and gave him his full attention.

"You're serious." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah," Finn said as he dropped his backpack on the floor and fell into the seat opposite him. "I mean, I'm sure I'll get a few laughs from the rest of guys, but they'll understand. It could be fun."

"Oh, the guys will never stop laughing at you," Grant assured him, "What you should worry about is what Quinn will say. You know what she gets like when it comes to popularity, and you must know that that and Glee doesn't exactly go hand in hand."

Finn looked a little worried about that for a moment, before his resolve hardened and he shook it off. "It'll be fine," he said after the briefest of hesitations, "I can talk her round."

Grant wasn't so sure about that, but he chose not to voice his concerns. Instead, he asked the other question that was going through his mind. "So why are you telling me about this? It sounds like you've already made your decision."

"I have," Finn paused for a moment, and he could practically see the words forming on the tip of his tongue. "I was hoping you'd join with me."

Instantly, Grant shook his head furiously, leaned back, and waved his hands in a motion which told Finn in no uncertain terms that he wasn't keen on the idea. "No way."

"C'mon dude! You have a great voice, I've heard it." He pressed, "Besides, I didn't think you were the type to care about what people think of you."

"I'm not. But with everything that happened last year, I'm trying to stay low-key." He answered, "Being in a semi functioning Glee club doesn't fit into that plan."

Finn sighed and ran a hand through his short hair, "I get it man. I've already spoken to Mr. Schue, he said The New Directions-" Grant threw him curious look, "That's the name of the Glee club. He said they're performing at tomorrow's assembly. Just check it out. See what you think, and make a decision afterwards."

**0o0o0o**

"This better be important." Puck warned as Eddie and Dodger came out of nowhere to flank him.

Dodger's grin was practically blinding, and placed a hand on Puck's shoulder to get him to change directions and veer to the left. He turned to Eddie and looked mildly annoyed. "You'd think he'd be thanking us."

"I'm late for class," Puck reminded him, "Why would I be thanking you?"

"We found your girlfriend." Eddie informed him.

"Yep," Dodger added, "You know, the one that's been avoiding you." They came to a stop at one end of a short corridor. Walking in the middle of the corridor was the tall, dark haired wonder that was Alyssa Cruz. Commonly considered to be one of the most attractive people in the school, it really wasn't surprising that people moved out of her way as he walked. Usually, her cheerio's outfit helped with that, but she didn't seem to be wearing it today.

It didn't take Puck long to cross the short distance between them. Dodger made a move to follow them but was stopped by Eddie. "You know we're not finished that conversation about Santana, right?"

Eddie wasn't surprised that Dodger chose to ignore that and instead gave him a blank look and followed Puck. Shaking his head, Eddie followed to see Puck ignore any pleasantries and instead attempt press his lips onto hers. To his, and their surprise, she pushed him off of her. "What the hell are you doing?" She spat in a very unlike Alyssa tone.

For a moment, Puck was lost for words. That didn't last long though, "What's the matter with you?" He shot back. Eddie spotted something, or someone in the distance, and instantly pointed it out to Dodger. "You dodge my calls, ignore me for days, and now stop me from kissing you. What are you trying to tell me Alyssa – do you not want to be dating anymore or something?"

"Ummm...Puck?" Eddie took a tentative step forward.

Puck didn't look at him, instead he just raised his hand, blocking his path, "Dude, stay out of this."

"Hey Puck." A familiar voice chimed out from somewhere behind Alyssa. His confusion showed all over his face for a moment, before Alyssa stepped aside to reveal...Alyssa?

A moment of silence rained down through the group, before Puck swallowed and found his voice. "What. The..." Whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by the bell ringing throughout the entire school, the signal that pretty soon they was going to be late for their lesson, not that any of the five of them cared about that right now.

Dodger slowly leaned toward Eddie, "You see two of them too, right?" He slowly nodded in response. For the most part, Dodger actually looked relived. "Okay. Good."

"Puck," One of the Alyssa's said slowly, "I don't really know how to say this. This is...this is my sister. My twin sister. Aaliyah."

**0o0o0o**

**That's it, first chapter done. I'm not overly happy with it, but I needed to get something out. Hopefully the next one won't take as long. Anyway, review and let me know what you think!**


	4. The Food Chain

_**I know, I'm a terrible person. Sorry for taking so long to update, life has just decided to punish me recently. **_

_**Songs covered in this chapter are Lauryn Hill's Can't take my eyes off of you, and Ne-Yo's Because of You.**_

**0o0o0o**

"_You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you," _Jessica sang softly and slowly, with her eyes tightly closed and her hands trembling,_ "You'd be like heaven too touch. I want to hold you so much. At long last love has arrived. And I thank god I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you."_

Jessica opened her eyes, and the fantasy of being alone in her bedroom with the curtains drawn tightly dissolved as she found herself staring at Mr. Schuester with every single member of the Glee club watching on from then benches. Instead of feeling nervous, she was buoyed by the smiles on the faces of her peers. Even Rachel, who intentionally or not always carried around a sense of superiority, looked suitably impressed. Jessica took a step forward and her voice only grew louder.

"_Pardon the way that I stare. There's nothing to compare. The sight of you makes me weak. There are no words left to speak. But if you feel like I feel, then please let me know it's real. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you." _

The music grew louder and quicker as the rest of The New Directions clapped along to the beat and sang along with her. _"I need you baby, and if it's quite alright, I need you baby, to warm a lonely night. I love you baby, trust in me when I say. Oh pretty baby, don't let me down, I pray. Oh pretty baby, now that I've found you, stay."_

The music filtered out and Jessica finished the last few lines of the Lauryn Hill classic acapella. _"You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you..."_

The choir room broke out into applause and Jessica allowed herself to finally lose focus and soak up the congratulations. Mr. Schuester was the first stand up. "That was great, Jessica." He paused for a moment, glancing back toward the rest of the Glee club. "Based on that performance, I think we just found out who gets the solo for tomorrow afternoon!"

Jessica's smile only grew wider.

**0o0o0o**

**Life at McKinley**

**2**

_**The Food Chain**_

The hallway was filled with the light chatter of students as Jessica Winston pulled out books for her next lesson out of her locker. She brushed her cherry red fringe out of her eyes and closed her locker door, only to jump when Rachel Berry appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The perky brunette was beaming while wearing one of her trademarked sweaters, short skirts and long socks. "Oh," Jessica said, trying and failing miserably to hide her surprise at seeing her there. "Hey Rachel."

"Hi Jessica," Rachel replied. A moment of silence passed before Jessica opened her mouth to respond but Rachel beat her to the punch. "I just wanted to say how impressed I was with you performance in Glee today. I heard your audition and I have to admit I didn't think you were capable of achieving that sort of vocal range. I know that I was originally up for the solo tomorrow so I just wanted to say no hard feelings, and good luck."

Jessica couldn't help but return her bright smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," Rachel said as she patted Jessica's right arm, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Rachel didn't give her a chance to answer her question as she took off down the corridor at a lightening pace. Jessica, who was left slightly bemused by that interaction, shook it off and turned around to head to her next class, only to find a tall guy standing in the same spot Rachel had just left. This person Jessica was more familiar with. Her cousin –Jayson Winston- had always been classically handsome, with short black hair and a well toned body. He was usually carefree and easy going, but the expression on his face was one that Jessica had seldom seen. He was worried.

"What's wrong?"

Jayson – or JJ as he was more commonly known throughout the school – grabbed onto one of her arms and pulled her around a corner where there were a few less people and was quite a bit quieter. "Please tell me you haven't."

That just confused Jessica further. "I haven't what?"

JJ looked over his shoulder once more to ensure that nobody was listening in – not that Jessica was sure why anybody would be – before speaking, "Joined...you know...the Glee club?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jessica practically squealed, completely missing the disenchanted look pass across JJ's face. "We're performing in the assembly tomorrow afternoon, and guess who got the solo?" Her rhetorically question was answered by her pointing both her thumbs in her own direction, "I don't know what song we're performing yet so..." It took a few seconds longer than it should have, but Jessica eventually did see the look on JJ's face. "What's so bad about me joining The New Directions?"

"Haven't you seen the way the people in this school treats _anybody _who joins the Glee club?" JJ questioned, "You know what this school's like. McKinley, it's like a jungle. It's survival of the fittest in its purest sense. You stick with them and you perform tomorrow your just cementing your status at the bottom of the food chain."

Jessica shrugged off his concerns casually, "You're over thinking things. It'll be fine." She paused for a moment as an idea occurred to her, "Oh, you've got a great singing voice. You should join."

"Not happening."

"Come on, all that stuff you said are just urban legends." She continued, "It's not that bad. You'll see." She stepped past him, but before disappearing in amongst the rest o the student body, she turned back to face him and said, "Just think about it. Make sure you come and watch the performance tomorrow. It'll be fun. You'll see."

**0o0o0o**

Danielle Henderson walked through the hallways with a purpose. She twisted and swerved her way through the mass of people, all of whom seemed to be heading in the complete opposite direction she was. Eventually, after a few moments of rapid power walking, she came to a sudden halt as she found herself outside often referenced but scarcely used library. With a sense of urgency rarely found in a student entering a school library, Danielle stepped forward and pushed open the two large oak doors. She let out a breath she barely realized she was holding when she spotted the bag she had let behind sitting at the table she had left just over an hour ago. She let out an even larger breath when she saw the black binder containing all of her summer homework sticking out from the half done zipper.

**Danielle**

_Somewhere, in the back of my mind I was worried that I would regret joining the Glee club. But now that it has actually happened, and I've taken the plunge so to speak, I'm confident that I made the right choice. I knew McKinley couldn't be the boiling pot of ego's, popularity and the Cheerio's damn Nationals trophies that it seemed to be. It was a comforting thought that once you scratched beneath the surface, you would see that there is talent lurking in the shadows. _

She paused while slinging the handbag over her right shoulder in the near deserted library. Remembering the new Spanish assignment Mr. Schuester had set earlier that day, she figured she may as well grab the text book she would need there and then.

**Danielle**

_Of course, in some cases, you didn't exactly need to look far to find talent. _

She rounded a row of books, skimming the spines of the texts to find exactly what she needed as quickly as possible before turning into the next isle. Danielle thought it was the brightly coloured t-shirt that caught her attention first. It was a mesh of bright colours that in her opinion had no business belonging on the same shirt mixed with a baggy looking pair of jeans and sporty looking sneakers. She wore hair in a tight pony tail and here glasses had thick black frames that covered up far too much off her face. Danielle would've shrugged off the girl's strange appearance if it wasn't for the headphone she had lodged in her ears. She obviously thought she was alone as she was singing along to what she listening too out loud.

"_Want to but I can't help it, I love the way you feel. Just got me struck between my fantasy and what is real." _Her voice was good, too good for someone who hadn't already tried out or Glee club. The girl – whoever she was – wondered down to the end of the corridor, before turning a corner. Danielle hurried after her. _"I need it when I want it, I want it when I don't. Tell myself I'll stop everyday knowing that I won't. I got a problem and_...Hi?"

Danielle realized quickly that she had been staring and that she had been caught. Her brain was running behind her mouth and she could only muster up a meek, "Hi," back as a response.

The girl looked uncomfortable, and Danielle couldn't exactly blame her. "Umm..." she said, mainly to fill what was fast becoming an awkward silence. "Can I help you with something?"

"No," Danielle said instantly, as she grabbed the nearest book on the bookcase beside her. "I found what I was looking for." Not caring what book she had picked up, she turned on her heel and walked out of the library with her head held high, refusing to look back even for a moment.

**0o0o0o**

"So you just stared at her?" Vic asked Danielle at lunch after she told him the story of what had happened less than a quarter of an hour ago.

She sat with him and Juno as they picked at what had been laughably served up as lunch in the canteen. While their attention would usually be focused on the food, Danielle's story had provided a more than satisfying distraction. "I didn't realize that I was doing it," She replied while dropping her fork back down onto her tray, "It just sort of happened."

"She was that good, huh?" Juno asked.

"She was _scary _good," Danielle answered, "She's one of us. She belongs in the New Directions."

"Well, we should get her to join," Juno responded straight away, "We should go and talk to her. Who was she?" Her question was aimed at Danielle but seconds later, they both turned and directed the question toward Vic.

He rolled his eyes after realizing that attention was once again on him, "What did she look like?" Danielle then launched into her initial impressions of the girl she had seen in the library. It didn't take long for Vic to nod and get a clear picture in his head, and only one name popped out from it. "Andie. Well, _Anna Dee, _but she just calls herself Andie. It's easier that way."

"You friends with her?" Danielle pressed.

Vic shrugged, "Sort of."

Danielle smiled brightly, "So you can talk to her about joining Glee club?"

"I don't know, maybe..." He replied, "But you're the one that actually heard her sing. You should talk to her."

"Why don't you just do it together?" Juno suggested.

The look on Danielle's face was extremely hard to say no too, and eventually he relented. "Okay," he said after several moments, "We can go find her after lunch."

**0o0o0o**

It was an unwritten rule in McKinley High that you didn't mess with Quinn Fabray when she was pissed off.

Ethan Hummel wasn't most people, and he wasn't exactly known for making the wisest decisions. He ignored the storm that was brewing in her eyes and instead focused on how good the blonde looked in her Cheerio's uniform. His thought process was obstructed by long legs and short skirts and any ideas of keeping his head down and staying out of trouble quickly disappeared.

With an arrogance that the majority of people couldn't hope to pull off, he stepped into the line of fire. "Hey gorgeous, I was..."

Quinn walked straight passed him without even a second glance. His eyes narrowed and a frown quickly set on his face. Yeah, he was well aware that she was currently dating the quarterback on what could quite possibly be the worst football team in America; he still didn't expect to be treated like he was Jacob _friggin _Ben Israel. He wasn't used to being ignored. Ethan didn't like it. It took him a few seconds to build back up his broken confidence and prepared to catch back up with her. He wanted a second crack at it.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

He turned around to see one of the few friendly faces he had in the school advising him. Hanz Matthews was taller than him, but only by the odd inch. His shoulders were a little wider than his as well, and such he was stronger than Ethan and most people in McKinley. He smiled at his friend, "Why wouldn't I?" he questioned, "Have you seen her recently?"

"It's Quinn Fabray; you'd have to be blind to not realize that she's hot." Hanz answered with a grin, "But I wouldn't get on her nerves though. Rumour has it she's on the warpath."

"Why?"

Hanz raised an eyebrow, "You didn't know?" By the blank look on Ethan's face the answer was clearly no, "Finn's joined the Glee club, and she's not happy about it."

"I think my brother said he was going to join that as well," He replied, thinking back to the conversation he had with Kurt the previous night. He turned back to Hanz, "What's so bad about that?"

He just shrugged, "You might want to keep an eye on him. They're not exactly well liked around here."

Ethan nodded and filed that away for thought later. He wasn't stupid, he knew that the Glee club wasn't ever going to be most popular club to be in, but he didn't think it would be that bad for Quinn to be that angry about Finn joining. For now, he shrugged it off as he spotted another Cheerio at the other end of the corridor. "Well, if Quinn's off limits for now, then I better go find someone else to bunk with. Later man," he said with a smirk before moving past Hanz and shouting out, "Hey Santana!"

Before Hanz could move on his path was blocked by Eddie, who didn't let him walk past but kept his eyes on the vastly disappearing form of Ethan, who already had an arm around Santana's waist. "Hey," he said, clearly distracted. It took a long moment, but eventually his eyes focused on Hanz, "What's he talking to Santana about?"

Hanz smirked, "It's Ethan," he replied simply, "What do you think he's talking to her about?"

**0o0o0o**

It was safe to say that this was not turning out to be Alyssa's day. She was surrounded by her fellow Cheerio's and swamped in their discussions of new routines, the wrath of Sue Sylvester and boys, but too anyone who paid her any attention her mind was clearly somewhere else. She hadn't intended Puck to found out about or meet Aaliyah like that. She definitely didn't need Dodger or Eddie hanging around in the background. Granted, she had spent the last week trying to figure out a way to tell him about the whole _"lost twin thing" _but she was still trying to wrap her head around it herself.

Brittany broke her out of her reverie by tapping her on the shoulder. The ditsy blonde smiled and seemed to be completely unaware of her distress. Alyssa wasn't sure whether she should be grateful for that or not. "Puck's over there," She said, "But he looks upset about something."

Alyssa looked toward where she was pointing and saw him alone, violently throwing books into his locker. She sighed and thanked Brittany. She had no idea what she was going to say but she doubted that would change any time soon.

He didn't turn around when she was behind him, she didn't expect him to. If Puck knew she was standing behind him, he wasn't going to be the one to speak first. Him and his damn pride. Alyssa cleared her throat and Puck stopped in the middle of throwing his next book into his locker. He glanced over his shoulder, and his steely gaze betrayed nothing but frustration. He turned back around and dropped his last book in his locker before slamming the door shut and twisting the dial until he heard it click.

"You've been avoiding me."

She could practically see his frown through the back of his head. "Sucks, doesn't it."

Alyssa didn't respond to that, she probably deserved it and so much more. Puck did eventually turn around to face her but remained silent. He was waiting for an explanation that Alyssa wasn't sure she could give. "What do you want me to say, Puck?" Alyssa snapped, frustration that wasn't caused by him slipping into her voice, "That I'm sorry? Fine. I'm sorry for avoiding you and ignoring you the last few weeks, but if you didn't notice I had other things going on." She took a breath for a moment before continuing, "I needed time and space to get my head straight. You need to understand none of this had anything to do with you. There are just things that I need to figure out."

Puck didn't say anything for a moment. She could see the muscles in his jaw tensing and his fist clenching. Alyssa could practically see the thousand of questions flying through his mind. Eventually, he settled on one. "What is actually going on?" He continued quickly without allowing her to respond, "Who is that girl? Is she actually your twin? Cos if she is then that is pretty fu..."

"Yeah, I get it. It's not exactly an average situation." Alyssa cut him off. "It's mental. But she actually my sister."

"How's that possible?"

Alyssa shrugged. She didn't really get it herself, but she gave him the explanation she had been given. "Our parents were together, had me...well us...broke up and decided they didn't want anything to do with each other anymore. So my mum took me, my dad took Aaliyah, and they went their separate ways."

"Sounds like a storyline from a television show." Puck commented.

"Tell me about it."

Somewhere in between ranting and telling him the story, Alyssa found herself leaning on the sturdy set of metallic lockers, inches away from Puck. "And she just showed up?"

She nodded, "A couple of weeks ago. Said something about wanting to get to know her sister."

Her tone must have shown her obvious unhappiness at the situation as someone who was as admittedly dense as Puck was to pick up on it. He reached forward brushed a strand of her dark black hair out of her face. It wasn't long before he was leaning forward, his lips already taking shape to kiss her. Instead of meeting her lips, all Puck's mouth ended up touching was the ends of her finger tips. He didn't say anything, but his eyes told her his question clearly. "_What's wrong?_"

She found herself taking another deep breath. This was what she had to talk to him about. "I need...I need to take break from this...from us."

Puck instantly pulled away and the look on his face betrayed his surprise at her words. He took a moment before he spoke. "Do you want to take a break or do you want to break up?"

"A break."

"It doesn't sound like it."

"It's what I mean," Alyssa insisted. She reached out and took hold of his hand, "Look, you know that I want to be with you, it's just that right now my life is so screwed up that I can't handle a relationship." By his expression she could tell that he didn't get it. Not that she could really blame him for that, she barely understood it herself. "I just need time." She leaned forward and planted her lips on the corner of his mouth for a short chaste kiss. She pulled away, "I'll see you soon, Puck."

Alyssa left him there and then before she changed her mind and went back on her previous decision.

**0o0o0o**

Evan Lincoln strolled through the corridors of McKinley High barely aware of the drones of awkward teenagers move out of his way. He was quiet and stoic by nature, and common sense told him that that only furthered the perceived dangerous aura he was constantly surrounded by. People were scared of him, it was something that he had learned to deal with long ago, and to this day he was never sure of whether it was gift or a curse. Being well known and feared wasn't exactly the greatest combination, but it did mean that more people left him alone. Admittedly he was a loner, and that part of him found that thought addictive.

He was jolted out of his thoughts with a hearty slap on his back and an arm wrapped around his shoulders. Moments later, his face was covered in the odd combination of messy black hair and leather jackets. Hanz Matthews had a wistful look on his face as he led him through the busy hallways. "You feel that?" He said, giving his shoulder a squeeze, "That mixture of nerves and excitement bubbling away in the pit of your stomach. There's only one day on the entire calendar that can you that feeling."

Okay, so maybe not _everyone _was scared of him. "Let me guess," Evan replied, "The first day of term?"

"Actually I was thinking off the play-offs but that works too," Hanz eventually released his shoulder, "I gotta run, but we're still on for watching the game at mine tonight?"

"Sure." Hanz nodded and a moment later he had disappeared amongst the throngs of other students.

His attention was drawn elsewhere by the familiar form of his girlfriend, Clover Rogers and the equally evil Amber Reed whispering something to each other in front of a set lockers. He approached them and made his presence known by pressing his lips against Clover's cheek. She glanced up, a questioning look on her face. "Did you sort it?"

Evan's face lost any trace of a smile. "I'm dealing with it."

"Make sure you do." Clover said, "He owes _both _of us."

He knew this wasn't the conversation the type of conversation he wanted to be having where he could be overheard by so many. So he gave a curt nod and resolved himself to discuss it with her later on. "What are you girls up to?"

Amber looked up at him and gave a smile that was damn near viscous. "You'll see. In fact, I'm going to need some help."

**0o0o0o**

"Well that isn't going well." Grant commented from where he ate his lunch on the bleachers. Not too far away from him on the football pitch he watched as the golden couple of McKinley High, the quarterback and head cheerleader, Finn Hudson and Quinn Fabray argued. While he couldn't quite make out what was being said his conversation with Finn earlier gave him a pretty good idea. "Someone should tell him that now is the time to smile and nod."

Dawson Carson sat next to him and shook his head after taking a rather large bite of his sandwich. "Nah. Finn's a fighter. He knows what he's doing."

The third member of their group – Johara Mason, or just Jo for short – watched on with far more pessimism. "Maybe we should do something?"

Both boys threw her a look, "You don't mess with Quinn when she's that pissed." Dawson explained, "You just don't."

Jo unconsciously smoothed down the edges of her skirt. Being a fellow Cheerio she knew a little something about dealing with a pissed off Quinn. "True," She admitted after a moment. "You guys know what their arguing about?"

"Didn't you hear? Finn's the new leading man of the Glee club." Dawson explained. That did surprise Jo. While she had never given much thought to the idea of anyone at McKinley singing, let alone Finn, the idea that he had gone against the grain and fought against the status quo impressed her alone. "I doubt she's too thrilled about that."

"Why not?" Jo asked.

"They're not exactly at the top of the food chain."

"They're at the bottom of the Food Chain," Grant corrected. "Like bacteria and fungus."

Jo scoffed. "Come on, it can't be that bad." She paused for a moment as an idea occurred to her. Wrapping an arm around Grant's shoulder she said, "You should join with him. You've got a great voice. Plus maybe it wouldn't be as much of a big deal if you joined with him."

It was a good point. While Grant didn't have Finn's status as the quarterback he was still pretty popular in his own right. He would give the Glee club a little bit more star power. Dawson, however, laughed off the suggestion. "Yeah, big strong _tattooed _Collins singing and dancing in leotards on stage."

"Nobody said anything about leotards."

"Besides," Dawson continued, "I tried to warn Finn earlier but I think he may end up living to regret joining it."

That caught Grant's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Rumour has it Clover and Amber's got something planned for them after that assembly, and knowing them it's not going to be glitter and puppies." Grant only had half of Dawson's attention as Quinn had just thrown her arms in the air and stormed away from Finn, with the quarterback heading in the other direction. "I should go check up on him. Make sure he's not planning to throw himself off a cliff or anything. See you guys later." He said as he took his leave and followed him as he walked down the side of the pitch.

Jo waited for him to leave before rounding on Grant, "So?" She said, "What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Joining Glee Club."

He took a sip of his water and hesitated before answering, "Finn already asked me to join," he admitted. Catching Jo's expectant look he added, "I said no."

"Why?"

"You heard what Dawson said. Quinn and Finn arguing, Amber and Clover plotting, performances in front of the entire school!" Grant shook his head, "Glee club's drama. The type of drama I'm trying to avoid."

Jo nodded and didn't respond straight away. After she had read between the lines of what Grant had said she spoke slowly, "You sound scared."

Grant tried to laugh that off, "I'm not scared."

Jo shrugged. "Prove me wrong."

**0o0o0o**

Vincent Greene stood on the sidelines of the basketball court, doing his best to ignore the smirk that Dodger aimed at him after sinking his shot, and instead went back to reading the magazine he was holding. He was used to his _on and off _friend's posturing and after only spending a few minutes with him while he was playing he was left wondering why he had bothered to stay. As he read, Dodger took another shot. Yet another ball nestled into the basket.

"Okay," Vince said, as he dropped the magazine to his side. "I'm just going to say it. Baseball was better with steroids."

That comment was enough to make Dodger drop the ball, and he turned back to face Vince. "What?"

"Look at this," Vince continued as he pointed at the open magazine. Dodger glanced over Vince's shoulder and looked the magazine. "The player who's leading the field has eleven home runs. Back in Sammy Sosa's hay day that was a slow weekend."

"You do realise that Baseball is probably the most boring sport on the planet, right?" Dodger pointed out.

"True," Vince agreed, "But my point still stands"

The voice of someone clearing their throat distracted them both. On the other end of the court stood a six foot student, with shoulder length brown hair and bright green eyes. Evan Lincoln remained still, but kept his eyes solely focused on Dodger, a fact that Vince seemed to completely miss. "Hey, look, its Mr. Silence himself." Vince said as he walked around the table and patted Evan on his back, "Tell me, what do you think of the current state of drug testing in baseball?"

Evan didn't answer. Instead his gaze shifted from Dodger to Vince, and he gave him a look that would intimidate most people. Vince wasn't most people, but it was Dodger who spoke up first. "Vince, give us a moment, yeah?"

"Why?" Vince questioned, now looking suspiciously at the two, "You guys dating or something?"

Dodger rolled his eyes, "Just go." He repeated firmly.

Both of them knew that Vince was suspicious but neither of them particularly cared at that point, although Dodger was sure he was going to be grilled about it later.

"So," Dodger said as he approached him. "Acting like a stalker now, are we?"

"Are you arrogant enough to assume that you're important enough to stalk?" Evan responded. The look on Dodger's face gave him his answer. Evan only nodded, "Thought so." Dodger chose to ignore his comment, and folded his arms across his chest. "I need more."

Dodger was very aware of what he was talking about. The behind the counter prescription meds that offered a less than legal highs that the two had formed a partnership together acquiring and selling on. Dodger handled the former, Evan the latter. "No can do," he said, "I'm not into that anymore."

Evan scoffed, "Don't tell me you've gone clean?"

"Squeaky."

He didn't believe him and Dodger knew it, not that it mattered to him. For the record it was true. He had made a pact with himself to keep on the straight and narrow and make sure he didn't end up in cuffs before he turned eighteen. "Just one more time. Same amount, the same cut."

"You don't listen so good, do you?" Dodger shook his head, "And even if I wanted to I can't. The guy I used to talk to got locked up last summer. I've got no in."

"You must have someone."

"I don't."

Silence fell over the two for a moment. It was frosty, and edgy, but eventually Evan spoke smoothly, and calmly. "I used to be like you," he began, "Reckless, immature, thinking that I could get away with anything I wanted." Dodger's nostrils flared and he had to fight back his temper to stop himself from reacting. A small smile grew on Evan's face as he continued, "You see Ben Isreal over there."

He nodded toward Jacob, who was drinking a cold chocolate milkshake up in the stands.

"What about him?" Dodger asked, his eyes meeting Evan's.

"He's drinking it too fast. In a minute, he's going to hold his forehead and regret doing that as the ice runs through his veins." Evan explained. A moment later, he was proved correct, as the moan from Hurley could be heard by most of the inhabitants of the room. "Cause and effect, Dodger. It balances the universe, and keeps things in order. You should remember that."

"Was there a nugget of a point in there?"

"Yeah," Evan nodded, as his voice went lower as he continued. "It means that for all of your actions, there are consequences. Do as I ask, just one more time and make your life easier. I'm not the guy you want to cross." Again, silence fell over the two, before Dodger broke it before laughing. "Something funny?"

"Yeah," Dodger nodded, "You stand there acting like your better than everybody else, using your long words and theories about the universe, but there's only one thing I learnt from that little speech of yours."

"And what's that?"

"That you're not nearly as intimidating as you think you are." He paused for a moment, "You see that line of people at this school that are terrified of you? I'm not in it." With that parting blow, Dodger turned around and left the court, leaving a seething Evan behind.

**0o0o0o**

_**And the second chapter is done. I know there are still some characters that haven't had a lot of screen time but it's coming – I promise. **_

_**The third chapter is called Sisterly Love. Fingers crossed it won't take me 3 months to update this time!**_

_**And if anyone wants to create an image for this story than your more than welcome, just let me know.**_


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